Our Covenant
by Vardonir
Summary: The cost of their happiness was his life. slight JadexDist, onesided. NephryxDist if you squint
1. Chapter 1

_To my hated enemies, the Jade gang:_

_I, the elegant Dist the Rose now possess the flightstone. If you want it, come to the place of our covenant. We will settle this once and for all! You're scared, aren't you? Terrified?! But no matter. You'll never get the flightstone unless you meet me here. It's not in Daath. Most definitely not! Hurry!_

_-Dist the Rose, God-General_

* * *

Cantor Reiner was doing his promotion training exercises when he was approached by the Fon Master Ion along with a small group of people.

"Fon Master!" he greeted. "What brings you to a place like this?"

"Do you know of the flightstone that Dist has?" Ion immediately asked back, ignoring the cantor's initial inquiry.

"Yes," Reiner answered, "but Conductor Dist said, 'if someone comes to you asking for the flightstone, tell them that he has it, and he went home'."

"Home?" Tear echoed. Jade adjusted his glasses and said, "so he is at Keterburg." Guy added, "and the heighted security here was a distraction." However, Jade glanced at Tear and nodded slightly; the melodist starts singing the first Fonic Hymm.

Reiner falls, Jade knelt down and began inspecting the cantor's hands and pockets. "It appears that he is telling the truth," he reports, standing up. "He doesn't have the flightstone."

"Maybe Dist is smarter than you thought, huh, Jade?" Luke joked, as the colonel started walking away. He ignored the remark and simply said, "we should get going."

* * *

Nephry looked up as someone from outside her office knocked on her door.

"Come in." Her secretary moved opened the door and bowed to the visitor, and a blue-clad Malkuth colonel walked in along with his usual entourage. "Brother," she greeted, "I didn't expect to see you again so soon." He smiled to her, but the red-haired replica spoke in his place, "we're looking for Dist. Have you seen him?"

"Saphir is in town? Today is not one of his usual visiting days," the governess mused. "No, I haven't seen him."

Luke turned to his companions, "I guess we have to look for him then. Should we split up?", he suggested. "Let's meet up at the Albiore after two hours." The others nodded in agreement. "Thanks for the help, Nephry," the redhead said as they began to leave.

Jade was among the last to leave the room. As the last of his companions walked out, his hand on the handle of the door, he echoed her earlier words. "Saphir's 'usual visiting days'?" He asked without turning to face her.

"He personally comes here to give me presents on my birthday, and he accompanies me to Daath and back for my Birth Score reading," she said. "He visits the Professor's grave on her death anniversary."

He was unresponsive upon hearing that. "He's a better brother to you than I ever was," Jade remarked as he began to walk out.

"Brother, that's not-" Nephry tried to reply, but he had already closed the door behind him.

* * *

As expected, Jade found Dist sitting in front of the Professor's grave near the edge of the town where her school used to be. The colonel rustled some trees and bushes as he approached, which got the attention of the God-General. He stood up, flinching as he did so - the cold made his legs stiff.

"You've come for the flightstone, have you?" Dist asked towards the forest, still unsure of who his pursuer was at the moment.

"Yes," Jade exited from hiding, drawing his spear as he approached.

Dist took out the stone from his right pocket, showing it to Jade. "Answer me first," he said, raising his left arm and materializing a thin dark pink scythe with the blade behind Jade's neck. The blond man didn't react to the scythe behind his neck. "You've really given up on her," he stated.

"We were chasing a childhood dream, Saphir," Jade replied. "It was time for us to grow up."

This angered the white-haired general. "Grow up?" He echoed. "After just one accident, that's your excuse?!"

"Saphir-"

"I've made progress on the memory research under Van," he interrupted Jade. "I've been able to implant actual memories on replicas. I've been able to implant false memories, but with enough time, I could extract and-"

"Saphir!" Jade exclaimed, interrupting Dist this time. "Stop this foolishness."

"What-" Dist dropped the flightstone and grasped his weapon with both of his hands as he swung it in an attempt to decapitate the other man. Jade moved forward and blocked the length of the handle from swinging back at him. The two held that position for a few seconds until someone else rustled the bushes in the forest.

The scythe in Dist's hands dematerialized, and he jumped backwards, only to draw a sword at his right hand. Luke came out of the forest, sword already drawn, and stood at the colonel's side. The replica runs forward to attack the god-general directly, while Jade ran back and began casting an arte.

"Fang Blade!" Luke cried out his own arte, but Dist was able to block. He attacking again, but his opponent saw the attack coming and tried to kick the boy's left hand to disarm him. Instead, Luke managed to slash at Dist's left leg, ripping the material and exposing the mechanical leg beneath it. Dist slashed at Luke, who then blocked the attack, and ran towards the fonist.

"Thunder Blade!"

Dist saw the light come down toward him and was knocked unconscious.

Jade picked up the flightstone. "Thank you, Luke," he said. He handed the stone to the boy, adjusting his glasses. He looked over at the sleeping man's direction, his spear pointed at the other's neck. The pair were surprised at this gesture.

"Jade-" Luke began, but another voice interrupted. "Brother!" Nephry shouted from the forest, rushing just in time to witness the scene. She tried to push his spear arm away from Dist. "You promised," she said, grasping his right arm.

As he dematerialized his own weapon, Nephry lightened her grip on her brother.

Jade walked away without a word, while Nephry went to help Dist off the snow. She laid his snow-covered head at her lap, brushing off the white flakes from his hair.

"When Saphir left Malkuth for the Order of Lorelei, Peony and I made him promise that if he'd cross paths with Saphir, my brother wouldn't hurt him."

"But he's-"

"He's fine now, Luke," Nephry said, as Dist began to groan awake. "See? Saphir is a Seventh Fonist. He'll be fine." The God-General got up, healing his wounds as he did so. "Where are you heading now?"

"It's confidential to the Order," Dist explained, as he began walking outside of town.

"Take care, Saphir."

* * *

**Author's Note**: I've always thought that the only reason why Dist lives in his encounters with the Jade Gang is because he's a Seventh Fonist. Also, the scythe bit is inspired by Marlixia from _Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories_. Dist ("the Rose") reminded me of Marluxia (who has the element of... Flower), while Jade (the "Father of Fomicry" from the land of snow) reminded me of Vexen (the "Chilly Academic" who created the Riku Replica).

I haven't written in a long while. Later chapters might be OOC.


	2. Chapter 2

_I would ask you to die, yes. If I were an emperor with a country to consider. But as your friend...I feel compelled to stop you."_

_...I never knew that you thought of me as a friend," Luke remarked after everything Jade said._

_"Really?" The colonel's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He turned away from Luke. "I suppose that's understandable." _

* * *

"We are going to Hod. Mohs will surely accept us there!" the replica said as a large fonbot landed on the top floor of the tower, sending a slight tremble across the floor. The fonbot started firing its guns toward the replicas. Dist floated nearby, laughing as he approached. "You could wait a millennium and such a day would never come!" He jumped off his chair, materializing his scythe while in mid-air.

He begins running toward a large group of replicas, but the Melodist in jade's group blocked his weapon and stopped him in his tracks. "Stop!"

Dist stepped back. "I'm afraid I can't," he said, running his left hand through his hair. "Not before eradicating every last one of these meddlesome replicas," he gestured towards the replicas he was trying to attack. "Until then, I can't get back to my plan to resurrect Professor Nebilim, you see." At the corner of his vision, he saw his fonbot fending against the attacks of two swordsmen.

"Hardly a day since you escaped and already you're back to your foolish games," Jade remarked. "Stop this at once!"

"Never!" Dist shot back, dematerializing his scythe. He knew where this was going, so he drew a pistol at his right hand. "Once Professor Nebilim is revived, you'll go back to your old self, as well. Together with the Professor, we can relive that golden era!" he exclaimed.

"...I suppose this is my fault for having let you live this long," the colonel said, adjusting his glasses and drawing his spear.

"...So you would really abandon me?!" Dist asked. His fonbot stopped attacking the swordsmen and stood at his side for a battle. "Then...then I'll fight in earnest as well! You can die along with these replicas!" At that, he drew another gun at his left hand and started firing at the feet of the swordsmen rushing toward his direction. Guy sidestepped while Luke jumped, both dodging the bullets. The two arrived at the same time near Dist, who immediately dematerialized his guns and drew his scythe. He swung his weapon around while the two blocked.

"Dist's fonbot stepped ahead and fought while he stood at the side, casting a fonic arte. He held both of his hands in front of his chest, palms pressed together. Jade ran towards him, spear drawn, in order to interrupt the arte. The god-general saw this coming; he drew his Maestro Sword and raised it to block the incoming attack, but he raised it too high. The fabric of his right glove was ripped apart.

Jade tried swinging his spear at Dist again, who simply stepped back at each attack. He raised his now-bare right hand, his palm branded with a fonic glyph of Rem towards Jade, and casted an arte.

"Prism Sword!"

The glyph at his palm shined, while a larger glyph appeared below both of their feet. They both stepped back in order to avoid the attack.

"It's an amplification glyph, Jade," Dist explained. "Dawn Age technology."

"You've done research on Dawn Age technology?" Jade asked back.

"Why, yes, being in the Order of Lorelei has its benefits," he replied, "but Dawn Age fontech comes with its risks. I have a hundred times more miasma in my body than what your Melodist had!"

Jade charged forward again, while Dist was already against the fence-like wall of the tower of Rem. He removes the glove at his left hand, also bearing a glyph branded on his palm, and raised it toward Jade.

"Aphotic Shield!" Dist casted as a large purple fonic glyph appeared in front of him, and another at the center of the elevator. When Dist reappeared at the other glyph, he begins casting again.

A large black-and-white glyph appeared beneath him. "Then we shall die together!" Shards of light and dark materialized, one of both for each fighter. "Twilit Halberd!" The shards flew towards them and knocked them all down. His fonbot, now undistracted, goes back to killing the replicas.

Dist drew his scythe and also ran towards the replicas, but he felt a force stopping him in his tracks. His machine seemed to be under the same force.

"O admonishing melody, arise in the name of the Necromancer!

"Mystic Cage!"

Dist's fonbot was disabled due to Jade's attack, while its owner was left stunned, standing at the center of the elevator. He didn't have time to recover as he felt a spear pierce his chest, as the weapon's head emerge at his back, where his amplification glyph for his healing abilities was branded. Jade stepped back, leaving the spear at the other's chest.

Dist knelt, dropping his weapon which promptly dematerialized on the ground. His injuries brought him to his knees, clutching the gaping wound at his torso. He attempted to heal himself, but the glyph at his back was distorted from the wound and was unusable.

"...They're still fools," he rasped out, remembering his mission. "Mohs will never come for them," a pause. "Once Eldrant's anti-air system is activated," another pause, his speaking was becoming increasingly difficult, "this whole tower will be reduced to ashes." As a final resort, he took out a remote for the fonbot and activated its self-destruct sequence. A loud alarm promptly sounded. Dist no longer noticed how Luke sent out a small hyperresonnance to eject the fonbot out of the tower.

The God-General looked up towards Jade's direction, the spear at his chest dematerializing, the blood gushing out of the wounds. The colonel did not look away from the scene before him, instead he came closer.

"I only had... a few weeks left..." Tears filled his eyes. "I wanted... to bring back... the Professor..." he fell forward, both his injured palms against the floor. He cringed at the contact. "Because... I want... you and Nephry... be happy..."

"At the cost of-" Unknown to him, tears also began to roll down Jade's face. "Tear! Natalia!" he cried out, hoping they could still save his friend.

Dist pushed back up his body, to look at his old friend one last time. "Too late," he breathed as his tears fell. White as the falling snow of Keterburg filled Dist's vision. He saw a woman walk toward him, clad in a long white coat.

"Professor..." He felt a hand behind his head, an arm around his shoulders. He raised his left arm, reaching out to the woman.

"I'm coming."

With that, he took his last breath.

"Goodbye, Saphir."

* * *

**Author's note**: I made up two darkness-based fonic artes, obviously. Negative Gate and Bloody Howling seemed like an Anise/Arietta thing.

**Commentary**: That was one of the least violent fight scenes I've ever written.


	3. Chapter 3

_Jade closed his eyes. Even until the end, Saphir fought for his happiness._

_"I am a terribly cold person," the colonel admitted._

_"...I'm sorry, Luke."_

_The replica began to walk away, but paused after a few steps. "Jade, what are you planning to tell Nephry and Emperor Peony?" He then looked back._

_Luke saw tears running down the man's face again, as he began to walk away towards the door._

_"So this is what it means for people to die," Jade remarked._

* * *

Jade found Nephry at the outskirts of the town, at the Professor's grave. Saphir's actual resting place was at the Tower of Rem, but a small tombstone was placed there as well, along with one at the Daath cemetery.

"How did he-" she began to ask, the sorrow evident in her voice.

"We-" Jade began, but thought not to pin the blame on the others. "He attempted to kill the replicas that Luke would use to eliminate the miasma. I damaged the fonic glyph he used to amplify his healing."

His sister was speechless upon this confession.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

Six Catalysts in place, the seal at the glacial wall at Mt. Roneal was unlocked. A woman, clad in a skintight suit of black and white, walked out, picking up the swords of light and shadow on the ground.

"Saphir, I knew you'd- Jade? I never thought you'd be here."

"Hello, Professor," Jade replied.

"Where's Saphir?" the replica asked. "I thought he'd be the one to remove the seal."

"Saphir is gone."

The replica of the Professor paused. She laughed maniacally, uncharacteristic of the kind Professor in her image. "Good riddance," she said. "He'd come here, and talk, and talk... He'd never shut up!"

The comment enraged Jade. "He died overexposure to miasma from researching Dawn Age fontech."

The colonel drew his spear, and pointed the head at her direction. "Because he wanted to bring you back."

"Hah!" The Nebilim replica exclaimed. "What an idiot! He didn't have to do all that! I'm already here! I am perfect!"

"No." Enraged, Jade shouted, "You're not!"

He held his spear backwards and stabbed the replica between her eyes. The attack killed the replica, who vanished into thin air as she fell.

* * *

At the top of the Tower of Rem, only Dist's suit jacket and his Order-issued Maestro sword were left as an informal tombstone, while his body was buried at the foot of the tower.

A newly-promoted Malkuthian Lieutenant General clad in a sleek black uniform walked from the elevator, approaching the monument.

"Thank you, Saphir."


End file.
